Following Real Madrid’s tight 1-0 victory over Sevilla on Sunday night, coach Carlo Ancelotti spoke to the press to praise his match-winner, Luka Modrić, “we celebrate for Luka today for a great goal, because it gives us three points. He’s fresh and brought that, and he showed how complicated it is to leave him on the bench, with how he scored and how he sets an example for all of the squad in every session. It’s difficult to leave a player like him on the bench.”
Ancelotti on Luka Modrić’s future
“It’s in his hands, whatever he wants to do. We will just wait for him to make his decision.”
Ancelotti on his yellow card
“It’s difficult for us football people to adjust to these new rules about when VAR does or doesn’t intervene. It should be for obvious errors. Was this an obvious error? It could be. But the referee made a judgement in the game, then VAR made its own call. This isn’t a problem from today only. Then for the card, I said that I thought VAR shouldn’t be involved, only if it’s obvious.”
Ancelotti on Nacho’s future
“Modrić, Kroos, Nacho, are all in the same future. It’s a technical issue for the club, who will fix everything in the next few months.”
Ancelotti on the performance
“For me it was a great game, with intensity, balanced, with quality from Vinícius and Rodrygo. The problem was that we were predictable. If you don’t have Bellingham and Joselu, it’s easier to see how we will play. We don’t have a reference like Joselu, or a player who arrives from deep like Bellingham. They are a deserved three points, so I am satisfied for a great game.”
Ancelotti on managing minutes for his veterans
“It’s very difficult. I went through it in the last year of my career. I can understand what Modrić might think, when he doesn’t play and is a bit sad, but he understands. Everyone thinks that at the end of their career, but I don’t think he thinks that. He shows he’s fresh and that he has legs, he doesn’t look like a player who is 39. I’ve seen what he can do.”
Ancelotti on the decision not to put on Arda Güler
“What would I talk to him about? I had a thought before the goal, and after the goal I changed my idea. It was better to put on a more defensive player like Ceballos. I don’t need to give explanations about that. I think he understands, and if he doesn’t, then it doesn’t matter.”
Ancelotti on if he would talk to Modrić about his future
“From the respect that I have for him, I can’t give him advice. He’s very intelligent, he knows what to do.”
Ancelotti on whether this game could change Modrić’s future
“I can’t get into his head and see what he thinks. His behaviour and how he trains is perfect. I have affection for him. Staying to make an impact off the bench, I don’t know. It’s difficult to understand that the quality of the minutes is more important than the quantity.”
Ancelotti on if Real Madrid were affected by the refereeing
“I think in the first half we protested a little because the game was impacted emotionally by the disallowed goal. From there we lost a little bit of control. In the second half it was more controlled.”
